VIEW LARGER New University of Arizona Provost appointee Dr. Patricia Prelock. A third member of the University of Vermont’s senior leadership is moving to the University of Arizona as President Suresh Garimella continues to fill his cabinet.
Dr. Patricia Prelock will take over as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs on May 19, according to a university-wide announcement Tuesday.
Prelock is currently the interim President at the University of Vermont since Garimella moved to the UA in October. Her tenure at UVM spans three decades, and she has been the university’s Provost since 2019. Before that, she was also dean of the university’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences for 10 years and was the chair of the Department of Communication Sciences for seven years, according to a press release.
Garimella said Prelock was “the ideal person to lead our academic enterprise into the future,” in a statement.
Prelock thanked the 14-member search committee in a statement.
“My visit to the University of Arizona confirmed for me the extraordinary talent of the faculty, staff, and students and their desire to increase academic success, their focus on research for the future, and their commitment to engagement with their community," she said. “I appreciated the rigor and integrity of the search process and the thoughtfulness of the search committee, as well as the opportunity to connect with administrators, students, faculty, staff and governance leaders across the campus."
Prelock has a Ph.D in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Pittsburgh and was previously a professor at UVM’s Department of Communication Sciences and Department of Pediatrics.
“Dr. Prelock is a highly accomplished scientist and scholar, clinical speech-language pathologist, and university leader. A recognized expert in the nature and treatment of autism in children, interprofessional education and collaborative practice, and family-centered care, she has authored over 220 publications and garnered nearly $25 million in university, state, and federal funding,” Garimella wrote.
The third Vermont transfer is Richard Cate, a Special Advisor to the President who is currently serving a limited contracted role advising on university finances and strategic budget support, according to University spokesman Mitch Zak. He was a lecturer at UVM’s Master of Public Administration program for 15 years and plans to retire in June.
Four provost candidates were selected by the committee over five months, and Prelock was the last of the four in-person interviews held at the end of March. According to a press release, Prelock’s selection was unanimously approved by the search committee.
“Her vision aligns with the university's land-grant mission and commitment to advancing student success, strengthening our research mission, and deepening community engagement,” said co-chair David Hahn in a statement.
The other three finalists were Eric L. Barker, currently the Vice President for Health Affairs at Purdue University, Jenna L. Rickus, Senior Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning at Purdue, and William T. Bernhard, the current Provost at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Ronald Marx has been interim provost for the better part of two years. His interim stint was briefly interrupted after Joe Glover was appointed last fall, but he resigned after just a month.
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